Original owner of an 05 SE…was my daily driver until about 17, now is my 16 YO daughters daily. Take it to my trusted mechanic for an oil change and AC recharge. He finds radiator and power steering pump leaking. HVAC controls also sticking-replace all of those things. In taking apart the area near the center console of course a tab breaks as the plastic is so brittle at this age. I just ordered a new upper trim panel. (the big plastic piece around the radio and hvac controls). I am attached to this pathy after owning it for so long, but I wonder if I wouldn’t have been better off just buying her a Corolla or civic and being done with it. I have spent A LOT of money on this thing in the last 4 years or so. Body still looks great and it still drives very well. Anyway, my goal is to keep it running for another 2 years and re-assess at that point. No major rust issues…

Please show us some pics!!

Also even if you spent money.
Think about how much an equivalent vehicle like this would cost to buy new or even used in todays elevated market!

And if used, you can never be sure how the condition truly is, until you own it for a bit.

So I believe its money well spent!

Well that makes me feel a little better!
You are right-I definitely know what the history of my pathy is much more than I would any other used car.
The last pic I could find is from 18!

I know the feeling.

My brother has as 2017 Acura ILX. Nice car. Super efficient. Smooth. Beautiful.
I joked - I have a newer car than him:

This year's projects:

2017 Frontier Control arms (14k on them)
2021 Brakes
2021 rear controls arms (new)
2021 tires (new)
2019 ujoints (new)
2019 Sony Radio with Android Auto
2021 rear view camera I bought on Amazon that has better resolution quality than his.
2014 steering rack (1k on it)
2019 front spindles with hubs from a Frontier.

Luckily I drive my truck for work, the kms over the Summer paid for all this in two months of driving.

Considering a new vehicle would cost about 600-800 a month, the economics of fixing it, worked out for me.

Yes a 2017 Acura is definitely is less good a shape than my 2008 with 173,000 miles on it:

- Near New Tires
- Entire , and I mean entire, suspension front and rear, everything, control arms, all bushings, tie end rods, springs struts/shocks, everything, new this year. Drives like a brand new SUV off the dealers lot.
- All 4 wheel bearings replaced in past year.
- New belts/hoses done prophylactical
- Radiator done prophylactically
- New brakes
- And probably some stuff I am forgetting

- Plus we have bigger/better engines
- One of the strongest frames, ever put into a mid size SUV, ever.

So I am confident my 2008 R51 is superior to a 2017 Acura ILX is all areas that matter to me.

You guys make good points. I really do like the vehicle and I will try to keep it going for at least another 2 years. At this point I actually wish it had a much more anemic 4 cylinder engine to slow down my speed racer daughter! Seriously-the pathfinder has a lot of power for a new driver. She is getting horrendous gas mileage-when I drive it I baby it-she does not. My mechanic tells me the frame looks good so we will push on! The biggest thing i wish it had is a backup camera, but I’m not doing that at this point. I do have Bluetooth phone/radio so it is fairly modern In the technology area.

Backup camera makes a lot of sense, for safety, etc.

Depends on what radio you have, (I have the Sony XAV installed) I bought a $30 camera on Amazon, and wired it up, and for what it is, it's incredible.

They make those that attach/clip on the rear view mirror for less that $50.

......the gas use is absolutely horrendous on these in aggressive driving.

Two weeks ago I had a Honda CRV as a rental for three days while they fixed my rear bumper: AWD, turbo, running traffic for three days.

I got it at the 3/4 tank mark.
Went to the gas station thinking I needed to run "x-number" of liters to fill it to the 3/4 mark, after three days of driving, and I wound up filling it completely by mistake on like 20 liters.

These trucks are not kind on the gas at all. It's their one glaring weakness IMHO.
These need a diesel.

TooMuchControl wrote: ↑

Sat Dec 18, 2021 9:11 am

They make those that attach/clip on the rear view mirror for less that $50.

......the gas use is absolutely horrendous on these in aggressive driving.

You should try the V8

PS: All joking aside, I think the large V6 and V8 engines we have offer a lot in reliability to emergency power that its well worth the extra cost at the pump.
The trick is not to look at your total fuel bill but to look at your fuel bill DIFFERENCE from a newer SUV and/or lesser vehicle . You'll be surprised how small the difference really is when comparing apples to apples.

outoforder wrote: ↑

Sat Dec 18, 2021 7:55 am

At this point I actually wish it had a much more anemic 4 cylinder engine to slow down my speed racer daughter!

She is well protected in this tank.